I`m going to try an explain how I my made my crank skeleton rib cage and arms. You can mount any light weight skull on the body. The skeleton bodys I make are very light and can be used for any prop.And once you make one you will see how easy it can be adapted to any other props ( pop-ups,hang man).

Making the back bone.The first thing I do is cut a 24" long piece of 3/8" tubing and a 46" pieces of 12 gauge wire. Now insert the wire in the tubing leaving 8" sticking out one end and 10" out the other end. Bend the 8" of wire back over the tubing as in the picture on the left.This end of the back bone is the bottom.

Now I wrapped the 8" of wire around the tubing as in the picture on the right. The other end with 10" of wire sticking out is the top of the back bone.I made a loop by bending the wire back and twisting it around.You can see this in the picture on the right. This loop is were you would mount the skull your using.You can make this loop any size that works with you skull.

The picture on the left is what I have to this point. The top of the back bone has the wire with the loop at the top.Now I measure 3" down fron the top of the 3/8" plastic tubing and drilled a 1/8" hole. This hole is were I will attach my first rib. Next I`ll be making 5 ribs. You can make as many as you want.I`m lazy.

To make the first (top) rib I cut a 40" pieces of 1/4" plastic tube and a 48" pieces of 16 gauge wire. Now insert the wire in the tubing leaving 4" of wire sticking out of each end of the tubing. I will use the 4" of wire at each end to connect the rib to the back bone. I put the 4" of wire from one end thru the hole I drilled in the back bone as in the picture in the middle. Then I wrapped the wire around the back bone twice as in the picture on the right.

Next I took the other end of the rib and wrapped the 4" of wire around the back bone. So now both ends are connected to the back bone as in the picture on the left. Now as you can see in the middle picture I now take the wire thats wrapped around the back bone and wrap it around the ribs. Take a minute an look at the pictures. This will secure the rib to the back bone. Don`t worry if it feels loose because this just building the basic shape later I will use more wire to make everything stronger.

The picture on the left is were I`m at right now a circle .I just bend the circle in a little and I`ve my first rib.I`ll go back later and add more wire to secure the ribs together better.I have to make 4 more ribs so I will cut two 38" pieces of plastic tubing and 2 pieces of 46" wire for the next two ribs. Once I cut them I`ll insert the wire in the tubing and attach the ribs to the back bone just like I did for the first rib. Then I will cut two 40" pieces of tubing and two 48" pieces of wire.Then I insert the wire in the tubing and attach the last two ribs just like I attached the first rib.

Now I go back to the back bone and drill the holes were I will be mounting the other ribs. In the picture above you can see the first rib at the right. The red marks are the holes I drilled for the next four ribs. I measured 2" from the first rib and drilled the hole for the second rib.Then I measured 2" from the second hole to drill the hole for the three rib.I did the same for the fouth and fifth hole.

Here is some picture of the ribs attached.Once I shape each rib it will look like a rib cage.

Now I`m taking a minute to push all the sharp ends of wire into the tubing. This will keep your skin in tack and make your prop safe. What I do is bend the wire so the sharp end is pointed into the tubing. Then using your long nose pliers just push the wire thru the tubing. This also makes the frame stronger.

Now I going to connect the ribs in the front by building the breast bone. First I cut some pieces of 16 gauge wire about 6" long.Then I wrap half of the wire around the top rib. You can see this in the picture on the left. Then I connect it to the next rib. If you look at the picture on the right you can see what I`m doing a little better.If your having a problem following along just look thru the next few pictures.

In the picture on the left Im just repeating what I did between the first rib and the second rib but now its the second and third ribs. On the right I`m doing the same thing to the third and fouth ribs. It`s not shown but I did the same thing with the fouth and fifth rib.You can really see it in the picture below.

In the two pictures above I`m surpporting the rib cage by adding a wire between the back bone and the breast bone. To do this I added the wire on the back bone at the third rib. The other end connected to the second rib by the breast bone.

On the left you can see I completed the left side of the breast bone. The right shows the right side completed. I`m not worried about how straight the wires look because they will be covered later.

Now I flipped to the back and did the same thing to build up the back bone.The first picture shows the back bone before .The 2nd picture shows one side done then the last picture show both sides done.

Now I`m adding another support between the back bone and the breast bone. This one starts at the back bone at the last rib ( the one at the bottom) and connects to the breast at the second rib.

Now I`m adding supports between the ribs.I just wrap a wire around one rib than wrap the other end around the rib under it. Look at the picture below to see how I placed the rib supports.

I placed some supports on the back of the right side. You can also see the support on the left in the front between the third and fouth ribs.Just have to add the wire loop for the arms at the shoulders and were finished with the rib cage wire frame.

In the two pictures above I have added the loops that the arms connect to.I just wrap some wire around the rib were I want to attach the arms to. Now on to the next step building bones.